At some point in our lives, we are going to meet that one friend who won't shut up about their 200-hour playthrough of some massive JRPG, and you know what? Good for them. But what about the rest of us? You know, people with jobs, kids, or just a massive backlog of games collecting digital dust in our libraries? Sometimes, you just want a complete, satisfying story that doesn't require you to quit your day job to see the credits roll.
So, if you're tired of piling on games you'll never finish, or you just want something you can actually complete this weekend, I've got you covered. These are the best story-driven games that you can finish in one sitting.
Still Wakes the Deep
Platform: PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S
Time to beat: 4-6 hours
Still Wakes the Deep puts you inside a derelict oil rig in the North Sea in 1975, and something cosmic and horrifying has awakened from the depths. If that's not enough, everyone's speaking in thick Scottish accents.
The Chinese Room, who you might know today as the studio behind Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2, crafted something special a few years back. Still Wakes the Deep is Lovecraftian horror at its finest. The sound effects are some of the best I've heard in years, and they create an atmosphere that's thick enough to cut with a knife. At 4-6 hours, it's the perfect length for a horror game. It's long enough to tell a complete story but short enough that the scares don't overstay their welcome.
Lost Records: Bloom & Rage
Platform: PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S
Time to beat: Around 6 hours per episode
From the original creators of Life is Strange comes Lost Records: Bloom & Rage, and it's exactly what you'd expect from the title. It's four friends who reunite after 27 years when a mysterious package arrives, which forces the gang to confront whatever issues happened during their "lost summer."
The game is split into two parts, but each episode is a narrative arc that you can knock out in an evening. It's got the hallmarks of a great narrative adventure, choices, and complex relationships with enough mystery that it feels like you're playing a character inside a '90s movie.
A Plague Tale: Innocence
Platform: PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Nintendo Switch
Time to beat: 10 hours
If there is a sliver of a chance that you passed on A Plague Tale Innocence, I'm going to tell you right now that you've missed out on one of the most harrowing and beautiful narrative experiences in gaming history. That's how good this game is.
You play as Amicia, a teenage girl in 14th-century France, trying to protect her little brother Hugo as they navigate through the Black Death. The game is equal parts stealth, puzzle, horror, and some of the most heartbreaking and hopeful experiences you can ever get from gaming.
If you're going to focus on the story, you can beat Plague Tale Innocence in just under 10 hours. There's a collection aspect to the game, but it doesn't affect the story at all and only matters if you're gunning for trophies. Other than that, this is a game that you can finish in a day.
Venba
Platform: PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Nintendo Switch
Time to beat: 2 hours
Venba is a two-hour gem that tells the story of a South Indian family immigrating to Canada, and how food becomes the thread connecting them to their culture and, more importantly, to one another.
What makes this game special is that it uses cooking puzzles as a metaphor for cultural preservation. You're trying to piece together fading family recipes while watching a mother struggle to pass her heritage to her son, who's increasingly becoming hesitant to engage with his own roots because it would seem weird or embarrassing to others. This isn't a super dramatic game by any means, but the intimate characterization of how it feels to live in a foreign land is felt all throughout. It's beautiful, it's heartbreaking, and it's over before you know it in the best possible way.
Ravenous Devils
Platform: PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Nintendo Switch
Time to beat: 4 hours
I'm going to warn you that Ravenous Devils can be beaten in 4 hours or so, but it's so twistedly addictive that you'd want to replay the game over and over.
You play as Percival and Hildred, a husband and wife duo who run a tailor shop and a pub in Victorian London. The catch is that Percival kills his unsuspecting customers during his fittings and takes their clothes to repurpose them into new garments, while Hildred cooks their remains into burgers, sausages, or steaks, and serves them to her hungry patrons. It's a macabre loop of a semi-sustainable business model where nothing goes to waste.
That said, what makes Ravenous Devils special isn't just its grotesque premise, but rather the way it keeps you hooked with how cleverly the devs have designed the precise moments of its narrative. Ravenous Devils doesn't pretend to be more than what it is; it's a short indie game, and it leans fully into its twisted charm.
It's basically Sweeney Todd without you worrying about the daughter.
Neva
Platform: PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, Nintendo Switch
Time to beat: 4 hours
Neva is a side-scrolling platformer with a dash of hack-and-slash and a bit of puzzle-solving. You'll jump, dash, and swing your sword at inky monsters, but the real magic is how you interact with the world as its heroine.
You play as Alba, a young woman bound to a wolf cub named Neva after an encounter with dark forces. Together, you traverse a slowly corrupting world across four seasons, solving puzzles and battling shadow creatures, all while watching Neva grow from a cub into a full-grown wolf. It's a game about parenthood, loss, and accepting that we are all part of a larger cycle of life.
Harold Halibut
Platform: PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S
Time to beat: 8 hours
Almost all video games are painstakingly made by human hands, but Harold Halibut takes that idea so literally that you can almost spot the fingerprints of its creators on screen. Every character, set piece, or prop in this game is physically sculpted, painted, and then scanned to be digitized in an 8-hour narrative exploration game.
In this game, you play as the titular Harold Halibut, a handyman who serves as a lab assistant in the ship's science wing, doing menial tasks and daily chores until the unexpected arrival of an alien being draws Harold into a series of considerably more captivating quests. It's quirky, charming, and I would bet that you have never played a game like this before. Harold is complex, even if he doesn't understand how, and the game lets you feel that he's not always capable of understanding what he's looking for. It's a story that attempts to ask questions about ourselves and our self-worth through Harold.
And there you have it! These are some of the best games that you can try and grab for a weekend. Clear your Saturday or Sunday afternoon, open a beverage of your choice, sit back, relax, and play the game. Whether you're in the mood for some existential horror, emotional damage, or just want to cook some "meat," there's something on this list that will hit the spot. And the best part about it is that you still have time to do the laundry afterwards!
For more like this, stick with us here at Gfinityesports.com, the best website for gaming lists and guides.